{{first_name}}, if you have kids, chances are at least one of them knows how to ask two different parents the same questions…

…hoping for a better result. 

Such as my second oldest, Atlas.

When he hears “NO” from me, it only means half the “advisory board” said “no”, not the decision-maker (cough cough…his mom).

His pitch to his mom:

“Mom, it would be a good idea to start the grill to quickly cook the food before the sun goes down, that way we can see. Sound good?” 

Her response: 

“No, you still have work to do.”

After not hearing what he wanted, he wanders over to me, where I’m raking up pine needles and yard debris and says:

“Dad, we better fire up the grill so we can eat. I'm sure you're pretty hungry. I can get some burgers going and have Sage (my daughter) chop the onions, lettuce, and tomato. What do you think?”

My response: 

“Sounds great, fire it up!”

(You can see his personality in one photo 😆)

Now I’m in the dog house and I knew better…(why didn’t I think about the chores he was supposed to get done!?).

It was because I wasn't thinking about any regulation or previous rules that we had set. I was simply thinking about the outcome.

It was sold to me on a silver platter and I took it. 

Sometimes he sneaks through the cracks, and he gets his way, as you can see here, when one of his parents told him “NO” and the other decided to throw out the rules and make an exception.

Sometimes, it’s all about WHO you ask and HOW they perceive you vs. what you’ve done or haven’t done. 

This, of course, extends to raising capital from family offices.

In a recent case, the same pitch landed two completely different ways inside the same week.

Same deck. Same numbers. Same asset class.

One family office leaned in. The other one passed in under twelve minutes.

For a long time I would have read that as a deal problem. 

Wrong market? 

Wrong structure? 

Bad morning?

It wasn't any of those things...

...the two families were not even shopping for the same product.

They both said they were looking at "real estate exposure." 

That phrase covered:

-Two completely different appetites

-Two different decision processes

…and

-Two different versions of what a yes actually looks like.

Here is what I figured out reading the data that came out this month:

They look like contradictions. They aren't.

Wealthy families are sorting into two camps. The families exposed to 2021 and 2022 vintage losses are pulling back. The families built by entrepreneurs who sold companies in the last five years are leaning in.

The pitch that wins one camp gets cut from the consideration set of the other.

A 60-page institutional deck reads as discipline to one room and as "doesn't know how to make a decision" to the other. The reverse is also true. A founder-style narrative pitch reads as serious to one and unprofessional to the other.

Same asset. Same numbers. Different conversation.

I wrote the full diagnostic this week, including the three signals that tell you which camp is sitting across the table inside the first ten minutes, and the specific pitch calibrations that actually work for each.

It's on the site if you want the longer read: andrewlebaron.com/letter

If you're raising capital from wealthy families right now and trying to figure out which camp your pitch is calibrated for, I keep 30 minutes a week open for conversations like that. No pitch. Just the read.

Book a meeting here if you need help raising capital.

Book a meeting here is you need to allocate capital.

I’ll evaluate if you are seasoned in pitching your thesis like Atlas, or if you need to add some optionality to your offer. 

Hoping you have a great day and it's 1% better than yesterday.

Andrew LeBaron

P.S. If you want to talk through what your product, reporting, or investor relations system needs to look like to be in the consideration set when this capital starts flowing, grab 15 minutes with me here: andrewlebaron.com/meetwithandrew

F6 Partners is an alternative real estate asset manager that I’m currently advising, specifically assisting in the buildout of their Investor Relations department to raise another $100M for Student Housing, and so far they are on a roll.

Learn more about F6 Partners →

I build LP investor relations infrastructure (lead list building, pitch development, data room, family office strategy, nurture systems, and accountability structures) so your raise actually closes.

If you're raising for a real estate deal or a fund in the next 90 days, reply to this email or visit this page and fill out the form and let’s see how my team and I can help you.

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